


And the Silence Sang

by Into_Evernight



Category: AFI
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 22:38:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3226070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Into_Evernight/pseuds/Into_Evernight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just the day before that everything seemed normal. They didn't know it'd be the last one like it. They didn't know when they woke up, no one else in the entire world would be there. Because worlds end in whispers, not bangs. [Het warning just for brief mentions.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1: "The radio told me to stay as it burned down."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on AFIslash from 4/14/2012 to 7/7/2012. As of this writing, there are no more chapters to post.
> 
> Story Notes: Okay, so I DO mention Brittany and Marissa in this story, but I'll let you know they don't play active character roles.
> 
> Author's Chapter Notes: God, I shouldn't be starting a new story but I got really excited about this. :/ And I wanted to update the Nilvey instead (today), but I just feel too weak to write. So I went ahead and posted this.
> 
> Disclaimer:These are mere characters based on the members and associates of AFI (not the real people, duh). I do not own; I do not make money. No disrespect, harm, or libel is intended; this never ever happened (and never will) as this is 100 percent fictitious.

When the end came, it was unexpected. Prophesies predicted fire and brimstone, illness and hellfire. Prophesies that bedraggled wanderers, self proclaimed servants of God, shouted from the pulpits and streets and doorsteps alike, commanding their flock to repent before it was too late. There were many devout who drank up the words like sweetly poisoned water, and there were many who snorted and turned their backs, denying the existence of anything beyond them in the universe. The world wouldn't end. Not here, not anytime soon. Scientific predictions lulled them into a safe sense of comfort, holding them with warm arms and the promise of a future at least a few hundred years longer. And no one cared because it wouldn't affect them, future generations be damned. And the children of the Earth went to work and bars and parties and church, partook of hedonistic delights and pious self-constraint. The world was filled with too much talking, too much loud revelry and suffering and unkindness mingled with comfort and kindness alike. The two sides were imbalanced.

And then the end came, and worlds ended in whispers, not bangs.

–

Gray sunlight filtered in through the blinds, gracing Davey's closed eyelids with frigid fingers. He rolled over, the bedsheets rustling with the movement, feeling crisp and too cool against heated, naked skin. His arm dropped to the once occupied side of the bed to find it empty. Cracking open his eyes, he found Ryan was no longer beside him. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, feeling heavy and laden with sleep(lessness). The night had been long, the party had been good, but it had been after the party that resonated most strongly with him, the kisses and touches he and Ryan had shared. Nils and Jeffree had declined to go home with them afterward, instead wanting to linger at the bar with a few of their other friends, including a young model Davey had been seeing off and on for about a year now, this thin, beautiful girl named Brittany. She hadn't said goodbye to him or Ryan that night, instead focusing on the margarita she'd ordered. Of course she'd be angry after their last conversation. But he wasn't worried; she always came back and they always made up.

Stifling a yawn, he slipped from the bed and staggered into the bathroom to take a piss. It was as he was washing his hands and his face that he glanced at his reflection in the mirror and frowned at the traces of wrinkles forming on his brow, around his mouth. Reaching up, he slid damp fingertips around his mouth, tugging at the skin and drawing it taut. Something rock cold sank in the pit of his stomach – the sign of his mortality. Quickly, he breathed in and turned away. Make-up and another round of sex would plant the vitality back in him.

He exited the bathroom and went downstairs, seeking out Ryan. Sunbeams danced in foreign light, the kind that one always saw in old, unoccupied houses; he hadn't been home long enough, he figured, and the cloud cover didn't help. A chill tingled up and down his spine, and he wished he'd wrapped himself in a blanket before coming down here. Autumn was settling heavy over the Bay area, and with it came fog and icy lace breathed across the ground.

Coming to the kitchen doorway, he stopped and peered inside. There was no sign of Ryan. No sign that anyone had been there at all. Frowning, he slipped inside and padded across the cool tile floor, looking for a note. There was none.

He ran a hand through his hair, nails lingering against his scalp, and listened intently for any sign that he was still in the house. Maybe he'd gone to pick up some breakfast. He lifted the curtain to glance at the driveway, somewhat thrown off to find Ryan's car still there. He'd show up, he told himself. Shrugging a bit, he went to open a can of cat food for his beloved cat, setting the bowl down on the floor and then going upstairs to get dressed.

Time was wasted on vanity. He went through three different outfits before he was satisfied, then worked on brushing and straightening his hair, applying make-up and wiping it off only to apply it again. As soon as the eyeliner was thick enough to hide the shadows and hollows, the imperfections and beginnings of wrinkles, he took a step back, capping his mascara. Silence still hung heavily over the house, an almost eerie breathless echo of wind breezing through the cracks of the windows. He heard the house creaking slightly, the trees rustling and branches groaning as though holding a great weight. Frowning, he went to the window and gazed out, noticing how the clouds gathered. All he could hear was the wind.

And that was when it struck him - _all_ he could hear was the wind. There was silence. No cars humming and growling down the streets, no laughter or music drifting in from a neighbor's house. The silence was death – a deathly silence that could even be heard over the wind. Unease settled in his stomach, and he went into the other room to check his cell phone. The normal barrage of messages had failed to come. There was nothing even from Ryan, and at this point, he felt it was safe to say he wasn't in the house anymore. There was no feeling he was being watched, no secondary presence to greet him with smiles and flirtatious jokes. Another frown creased his already wrinkling brow and he texted Ryan before going downstairs again, where the silence was louder and more encompassing.

And with that resonating whisper, he slipped his phone in his back pocket, going out the door to drop by Brittany's apartment.

–

The roads were one hundred percent clear. There was no traffic at all, not even a single other car. On the neighborhood roads, it was a little less than peculiar, but by the time Davey turned onto one of the major roads, he was more than anxious. His heart started to beat faster as he looked up and down the street, seeing nothing for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. The fog hung low to the ground; it wasn't enough to obstruct his vision – surely, that couldn't be the reason no one was out. Nervous, he turned the knob on the radio, his ears met with static fuzz. Swallowing hard, he punched the button to turn the station, only to hear the same thing. And again. And again. The radio was silent, singing to him only in tones of black and white, the crackle of a TV late at night when the local stations went dead or the cable signal faded to nothingness.

He flipped to AM, and still there was silence. No, it was a sound more deafening than silence. It was the sound of nonexistence. And he couldn't help but wonder if he were trapped in a dream, or if there had been a nuclear war and he'd (somehow) escaped it.

It had to have been a dream because if there had been some atomic bomb dropped on the entire city, there would've been destruction. But there were no mangled bodies littering the streets or the sidewalks, and there were no bare bricks laid and crumbling where the footprint of buildings once stood. There was no destruction at all – just desolation. Emptiness. A hollow resound of every sound, of every breath he took. The city automated itself, stoplights continuing to function because they were programmed to function, streetlights flickering in the wan light because they were meant to.

By the time he arrived at Brittany's apartment complex, the cars in the parking lot lined up like soldiers on their way to somber battle, he already knew what he would find. He took the steps two at a time, too afraid to use the elevator for fear of being trapped, his chest beginning to ache. At the last step, he stumbled and nearly fell, having to grab onto the corner of the stuccoed wall to catch his balance. On shaking legs, he went to her painted black door, knocked and held his breath. Nothing. He knocked once more for good measure before he felt for the spare key behind the light fixture and let himself in.

The apartment looked the same as it had the last time he'd come over for a late night tryst. He could still see her smiling and laughing at him, running her tongue over her snakebites and teasing him with sparkling green eyes. He could still feel the way she'd run a delicate hand over his chest before grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him down on top of her lithe body and stroking his cheek. The way she'd smiled up at him, the way her breath had smelled like the cinnamon gum she'd been chewing. And then she'd granted him a sugar plum kiss, all suction and feather-light tongue. She'd asked him to _promise_ he meant it when he said he loved her, and he'd said he did. She'd asked him to _promise_ they had a future, that one day when they decided to stop fooling around and that the love was enough, they'd make something together. That they'd settle down.

He remembered how he'd kissed her instead of replying.

Stepping over a pile of clothes wadded up near the washing machine, he crept farther into her darkened apartment. “Brittany?” he called tentatively, his voice edged with something weak, shaking and afraid. He stopped, the sound of his breaths ragged and too loud. There was no reply. Shakily, he went into her bedroom, finding her bed undone and the sheets pulled up, bunched around her side of the bed, as though she'd gotten out of bed without casting them aside. He took a trembling breath, running his hands through his hair.

Not knowing what else to do, he collapsed to the edge of the bed and slid open his phone, hands shaking and cold and clammy. It was time to start making calls.


	2. 2: "We could be beyond the world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Chapter Notes: Lol I don't know if I should be updating this when it'll be the third "apocalyptic" story on the MRP. Although there's more to it than that and it's a bit different, but you will see. Anyway, I apologize for taking so long to update this. I didn't know how I wanted to handle the second chapter though the rest of the story is planned out. Also, I didn't know if anyone would be interested in reading on. X) Still, I like the story so... Yeah.
> 
> Disclaimer:These are mere characters based on the members and associates of AFI (not the real people, duh). I do not own; I do not make money. No disrespect, harm, or libel is intended; this never ever happened (and never will) as this is 100 percent fictitious.

No one had answered the phone. No one at all. Davey was now sitting on the floor of Brittany's bedroom, legs and arms encompassed in tremors, his focus drifting in and out as he stared at the wall ahead of him – a solitary confinement for a solitary sentence. What was worse was he wasn't even entirely sure he was _alive_ ; he could very well be dead for all he was concerned. Was this what hell was like? Was this his punishment for the things he'd done? The alienation. The way he didn't give a thought when he met a new, shiny toy and set them at his right hand. He was afraid and deeply so, if this was death and there was nothing more to it, if he was cursed to wander through eternity without coming in contact with another soul – not even a lost one.

The tears began to blur his vision and he hugged his knees to his chest, teeth beginning to chatter from the chills that rippled through his body. And then came the harsh, quick breaths, ones he couldn't control or hold back no matter how hard he tried. There was really no reason to hold back – there was no one to see him, no one to impress. There was _no one_ at all. And this singular truth looped through his head over and over like he was a crazy person, and that was the only thing he could think.

The seconds passed by like they were all the same second – he had no idea how long he'd been sitting there and dizzily, shallowly breathing when a sound more welcome than anything else in the entire world split through the atmosphere and woke him from his plummeting state. The obnoxious beeping of his ring tone.

A painful sounding breath caught in his throat and he scrambled to grab his phone from where he'd dropped it, hardly able to press the right button and answer it because he was shaking too horribly. When he caught sight of the caller ID, seeing Jade's name flashing on the screen, he let out an almost hysterical laugh – he was calling him back. It was going to be okay. Maybe this was all just some sort of misunderstanding or some huge joke. Or maybe something was going on and everyone had left – and he just didn't know to take cover yet.

Right before it went to voicemail, Davey managed to get his phone opened and he answered it, barely able to keep his tone level. "Hello?" It came out thinner than he'd expected, more afraid than he'd warranted.

"Dave?" came Jade's nasal tone, questioning and young. "Oh, thank _God_." The relief that passed between them over the phone line was like a breath of fresh air, and for a few seconds they each reveled in it, heavy breaths shaking over the static crackle of interference.

Davey's heart was still rabbiting mercilessly and making his chest ache as he finally found the words again. "Fuck, you have _no_ idea how happy I am to hear your voice. I've been driving myself crazy – I'm not even sure if you're real right now or if I'm hallucinating."

At this, Jade laughed, this feeble, breathy sound. "You're not hallucinating or else I am too," he insisted, traces of the laugh still filtering through his words. "Oh my God, Dave. This is crazy..." There was a pause, and Davey could hear him taking in a sloppy breath. "I woke up this morning and no one was there. Not Marissa, not Munch... It was so fucking weird."

"Bizarre," Davey agreed, his mind clouding over again, something cold and numb creeping into the center of his chest. Because now he realized it _wasn't_ just him, and he wasn't dead or cursed or dreaming crazy dreams. "Wait – you mean to tell me you've called everyone and can't get a hold of anyone? Except me?"

"Y-yes," Jade stammered, voice faltering and cracking. "I went through my entire contact list. I tried to call you earlier but I couldn't get you. I guess you called me while I was calling someone else."

Davey hummed in response, eyes flicking from one corner of the room to the next. The atmosphere felt heavy, some ghastly eerie sensation prickling his skin. It still didn't feel real; it felt like he was floating through a dream and even Jade's voice didn't sound right. It was far away but not in the normal sense, not in the way he'd expect to hear over the phone. "Do you believe we're truly alone?" he heard himself asking suddenly, the words seeming to wave briefly through the air before they flattened out. A momentary spell of dizziness overtook him again.

There was a pause – one of complete silence. The panic gripped Davey's chest again, pressing it like invisible hands, as even the interference couldn't be heard. Right before he called Jade's name, he replied. "I can't say for sure, but I _think_ so." Jade sighed, the beautiful sound of another person filling the receiver. "I went out earlier to get some coffee and none of the stores were open. I didn't see anyone, either. That's when I freaked out. I thought Marissa had taken Munch for a walk or something but..." He trailed off, and he didn't need to keep going for Davey to understand what he meant – he'd seen it with his own eyes. Or, more like, hadn't seen anything.

A whimper died in his throat and he gripped the phone tighter. "What do you think happened?" he asked, voice uncharacteristically meek. "Why are we the only ones? You don't think...you don't think we're dead or they're dead, do you?"

Normally, Jade would've huffed and Davey would've seen in his mind's eye how he looked at him – that glance that asked, _are you nuts? Stop being crazy, Dave._ Maybe he was crazy sometimes, but this time Jade didn't tell him to knock it off. Instead, he stumbled over his words, tongue-tied. "I...I don't know. I don't think we are."

"But are they?" Davey pressed, panic welling inside him again. "Did a rogue plague wipe out everyone but us? Why are we unscathed? Why are they gone but we're still here?"

"Jesus Christ, I don't know!" Jade sputtered out, his voice raising a pitch. "Look, I don't know what to do. I don't even know where to start, but..." A brief pause; Davey waited, his heart knocking against his ribs uncomfortably. "But I think we should get together. In person. Who knows? There might be other people like us and we just don't _know_ them. But we're going to find out, okay?"

Though Jade couldn't see him, Davey nodded in response, the motion mechanical. "Yes, I believe that's best. Would you rather me come down to LA?" He swallowed hard, his mouth going dry.

"Well... It's creepy as fuck here." Jade laughed, this awful, dry barking sound. "But it'd probably be better. We might have more chance of finding someone here and...you know, what if Marissa comes back? I can't be gone."

A dull ache fluttered in Davey's chest and he suddenly felt heavier, like he couldn't get up or support his own weight. Although he doubted very much that Marissa would come back, he didn't have the heart to tell Jade this. So he just exhaled and agreed. "I'll pack and come find you." Shaking, he pushed himself from the floor and supported himself against the wall, slumping his shoulder against it. "Please keep in touch during the journey. I'm afraid of losing you too."

"You're not the only one. Don't go anywhere." Jade tried to lighten the statement with a laugh but it fell flat. And Davey didn't find it humorous or cute in any sense of the word either.

"I'll see you in a few hours. Stay put." With that, Davey wrapped up his goodbye and hung up.

Immediately, he wished he'd kept Jade on the line because now that the connection was cut, the fear of the future had a hole to slide into. And now he wasn't sure if he was so relieved that Jade was there too, because if no one else was there then what were they going to do? It would be the end of the world for them; even if the earth continued to exist nothing else would, not people or animals or any sort of intelligent creature. He had never felt so desperate or sick. And if he hadn't had another person to worry about then whatever he did just wouldn't matter; however, Jade was just as fragile right now and he needed him. He had to go.

It was the loyalty to a friend that forced him to leave the apartment and go to his house to his pack. And it was that same loyalty that kept the shadowed thoughts at bay, the deep whispers in the corners of his mind from consuming him whole. If he focused on Jade like a pinpoint of light, he could help him – and they could figure this out.


End file.
